Shay O'Hanlon Caper 03 - Pickle in the Middle Murder (19 page)

“I’m sore. A few ribs are bruised.”

She bent her head and ever so softly, her lips met mine for a brief moment. Then her eyes searched my face.

I could see she wanted answers, and she wanted them now. I kissed her nose and said, “Let’s go home.”

“Absolutely the best offer I’ve heard in the last forty-eight hours. But—”

“No buts.” I grabbed her hand and led her to her Durango.

“Where’s your truck?” she asked and shot me a confused look as I beeped the doors unlocked.

Hadn’t they told her anything when they let her go? “Long story,” I said. “Goes with the face. I’ll explain on the way home.”

I settled gingerly into the seat and clicked my seatbelt into place. The shoulder belt rubbed painfully, and I eased it behind me. I caught JT watching me, a concerned frown marring her face. I clicked off the radio in the middle of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The words made me smile.

She said, “That song’s pretty appropriate.”

“Yeah, it is. Look, before we get into this, I have something for you.”

One shapely eyebrow arched.

I handed her the Kleenex-encased rose. She unwrapped it and turned the colorful flower over in her hands.

I said, “I thought the entire flower was going to be squashed after those two cops landed on me. When I got home and realized that was still intact, it felt …” I trailed off, not sure how to put my emotions into words. “Lately the things I knew that held me up were crumbling down around my ears. But the most important part of the flower survived, and that’s how I feel about us, JT. We might be battered and banged up, but our relationship—the heart of us—is okay.”

“Shay.” JT’s voice cracked. “Thank you. I’ve been worried about you, about everything.”

I grabbed her hand and our fingers twined together familiarly, comforting. “I know you have. I’ve got questions, and I know you do too, so let’s get this done.”

The ride home went by in a blink as I gave JT a totally bare bones rundown of what had happened in my world since Saturday afternoon. I didn’t want to get too deep into anything now, because if I did, we would never get to bed.

JT had always been a great listener, and she proved it again by stopping me only to ask clarifying questions and to gasp in appropriate places. When I got to the part about finding the letter from Maria, she visibly cringed and looked appropriately chagrined, but she let me continue my brief summary.

By the time I pulled into the garage, I’d pretty much wound down. I said as much as I was going to say for the night, and my brain was becoming mighty slow on the uptake.

JT looked at the conspicuously empty half of the garage and said, “So where
is
your truck?”

“No idea. They towed it somewhere.”

“We’ll get that figured out. Don’t worry.” She slammed the door shut and met me in front of the SUV. I hit the button to close the garage door and we entered the quiet house. After a questioning look from JT, I informed her that the mutts were at a sleepover. She nodded, the movement mechanical. I could see exhaustion etched below her eyes and tenseness in the set of her jaw. As I led the way up the stairs toward the bedroom, JT said hoarsely, “I have a favor to ask.”

I stopped and turned around.

“I know I need to explain some things—”

I gave her a look that silenced her. “More than
some
,” I amended softly.

JT dropped her head for a second, then looked up at me. “Yes, you’re right. But I’m wondering if you could wait until tomorrow for my confessions.” She rubbed her face. “I’m so tired I don’t know if I could tell you anything that would make much sense at this point.”

I was relieved, since I was running on fumes myself, and thankful a bottle of pain pills sat on the bathroom counter calling my name. I touched my fingertip to her nose. “You got it, Cupcake.”

“Cupcake? Have you been reading Janet Evanovich again?”

“Nope. But we watched the movie a couple weeks ago, remember?”

JT rolled her eyes and herded me into the bedroom. We didn’t speak as she shed her clothes in a pile and pulled a form-fitting, white tank top over her head. I was nowhere near as speedy, and she gently helped me finish. She found my Vicodin in the bathroom and scored me two pills along with a glass of water. Then she wrapped herself around me and simply held me for a long time. Eventually we shifted to the bed and snuggled under the covers, so tangled in each other it was hard to know where I ended and she began. I tried to ignore my aches and pains, absorbing the love that flowed off of her like a tidal wave.

She lifted a finger and traced my facial wounds. “You look a little like something out of one of the
Friday the 13th
movies.” Her tone was teasing, but her eyes were serious.

“I’ll take that as a compliment, jailbird.”

“That’s the last time I want to be on that side of the bars. You have no idea how glad I am to be home.”

“I think I do.” I kissed her nose. “I like you much better on this side of the bars too.”

JT smiled lazily and gently tucked the uninjured side of my head beneath her chin. Reaching over me, she turned out the light. “Night, Shay.”

I mumbled, “Night, love.” It wasn’t long before I felt JT’s breathing even out and her body relax. I lay pressed against her chest, listening to the steady beating of her heart.

As exhausted as I was, sleep was slow in coming. Thoughts flowed in and out of my brain like a river that couldn’t follow its own path.

JT was an amazing person, a good cop. She was a bright light in an oftentimes dark and insane world. She was a fighter of the good fight, even when her demons threatened to consume her. My Protector, calm now, rumbled contentedly in the back of my head. I knew without a doubt I loved her with every ounce of my being, and that I’d do whatever was in my power to protect and defend this incredibly brave, incredibly frustrating human being. Not that she needed a whole lot of help in that capacity, but …

It still irked me to think about how much pain and sorrow she’d hidden from me, things I had no idea about until everything exploded Saturday night. Tomorrow, I was sure she’d give me another whole new perspective and understanding of this debacle.

I sighed and tightened my grip on JT, finally allowing the tides of sleep to pull me under.

eighteen

The next day’s mid-afternoon
sun shone brilliantly through leaves that blazed glorious fall colors. I sat with JT on a wooden bench at the surprisingly quiet Lake of the Isles off-leash dog park. At this time of day, only a few other people were there to watch their canine companions frolic through the wooded copse.

In the sun-dappled distance, Maria tussled and tumbled with Dawg and Bogey. Her thrilled, high-pitched giggles floated through the air, reminding me of this past summer when JT and I had taken a day off and visited the Como Park Zoo. Kids had squealed in delight as they rode Cafésjian’s Carousel, a 1914 merry-go-round located at the edge of the zoo. It almost made me feel maternal. Almost.

After we’d finally gotten up that morning, JT had called Michelle Osterhus and explained what had happened. She’d agreed to bring Maria and meet us here.

Michelle stood close by Maria, keeping a sharp eye on the dogs and her charge. I’d purchased two Angry Birds squeaky toys, and they were getting a slobbery workout. The pooches were already wrapped around Maria’s really little finger, and even from this distance I could see they were both being gentle when they returned the toys to her.

I heaved a sigh and gently smoothed stray strands of hair that had escaped JT’s ponytail. I studied her profile as her eyes followed the antics of our dogs. When she’d finally woken up and gotten dressed, she pulled on one of my Rabbit Hole T-shirts and topped it with a navy cable-knit sweater. A faded pair of blue jeans covered her long legs. She’d never looked more appealing to me than in that moment, absolutely vulnerable yet strong as steel.

I reached up and ran my knuckles along JT’s jaw. She pressed against my hand, then said, “I think it’s time I gave you some ex-
planations.”

JT kept her eyes on Maria and the dogs.

“I guess I’m—I’d really like to know. About a lot of things.” I gently squeezed her thigh, which had gone tense as a bowstring.

Her head dropped. “Shay, I hardly know where to start.”

“At the beginning, I guess.”

At first it was hard to hear JT because she spoke so quietly. “I was so angry. So ashamed. I’m not even sure if shame’s the right word. Appalled at myself, maybe. I completely destroyed a case we’d been working on for so goddamned long. All because I lost my mind over a few words from a moronic jackass.”

“I learned some things from a few friends of yours that might explain your reactions.”

JT shot me a look of dread-laced curiosity. “Exactly who’ve you been talking to? You kind of glossed over those specifics last night.”

“Dimples, for one.”

“Dimp—you talked to my grandfather?”

“Eddy and I did. You’ll have to ask her about her dip in the pool.”

“Oh no.” JT’s eyes grew wide as half dollars.

“Oh yes. But it was worth it. He led us to Taffy.”

“Taffy. You looked up Taffy Abernathy?”

“Yup. Did you know she works in a sperm bank? And lives in a house that’s actually more barn-like than house-like?”

“Really?”

I smiled. “Yup.”

“I haven’t talked to her in way too long. She’s unique, always has been. Always rode her own horse to the parade. Her whole family’s a little like that.” She blinked. “Maybe a lot like that.”

“Then we went to visit Peaches.”

Both eyebrows rose. “You
have
been busy.”

“And then Michelle told me about the work you’ve done for the kids who were involved with Krasski, and she really illuminated things. You’re amazing, you know that?”

JT’s mouth tightened. “Amazing is one thing I’m not. I wanted—I had to do something. After what happened, it was the least I could do for those kids. I owed it to them.” The muscles in her jaw bunched as she clenched her teeth.

And
, I thought,
you felt like you owed it to yourself too.
Maybe it was best to let her admit that, though. I said, “It was a great thing you did. That you’ve been doing. I just don’t understand why you never told me about any of it.” That was the crux of it, really. Her double life had to stop. I could only hope she’d let me in this time.

“Oh, Shay,” she said with a sigh. “I’m so sorry.” She finally met my gaze. Her eyes and expression radiated pain and a fury that was barely kept in check. I ached to take away the hurt that was reflected there.

JT tucked her fingers through mine. I gave them an encouraging squeeze.

She sighed and stretched her neck from side to side. “When we first got together and I realized you didn’t know anything about what had happened, it was a total shock. After it’d been on the news, in the papers …” She trailed off and gave me a disbelieving look.

“Hey, I can’t help it, I don’t pay attention to the depressing stuff. I suppose I must have heard customers at the Hole talking about it, but I obviously never linked it to you.”

“It was a relief. An absolute relief. You have no idea what it was like—still feels like, sometimes—to think I was being judged by practically everyone. With you, I didn’t feel that I was a total and complete loser. Honestly, I didn’t want to see the disappointment on your face if I told you what I’d done.”

“JT. Honey. I know you. I know your heart. I know how much you believe in doing the right thing.” That felt good to say. However, there was a piece of this puzzle that still nagged at me. “What exactly did Krasski say to you that set you off that night?”

JT swallowed and then locked her eyes on the dogs and Maria again. “Well, I haven’t repeated it to anyone before now.” She gently cupped my head and whispered to me some of the most vile words I’d ever heard having to do with children and things they should never, ever experience.

I stiffened, and violently expelled the breath I’d been holding. “That fucking bastard.” I felt physically sick and could easily see how JT had snapped. There is no doubt in my mind I would have done the same thing. I wanted to jump up and go kick the shit out of somebody or something myself.

JT clamped a hand on my knee and dug her fingers into my skin to bring me back. “Hey, easy does it, Shay. I know, believe me, I know.” When she was sure I was back in control, she continued.

“Anyway, after awhile when no one at the Rabbit Hole said anything to me about the whole Krasski fiasco, well, it was just easier to say nothing.” She gave a harsh laugh. “I was so sure Eddy or Kate would’ve known. I always wondered if maybe they were too polite to say anything. You, on the other hand, hardly ever watched TV or paid the slightest bit of attention to the news, so I wasn’t too worried there.” JT rubbed her jaw and glanced at me. “You remember when I first started coming to the Hole?”

“
Yeah.” Did I ever. I remembered how Kate had been dying to score a date with JT, and I’d admitted to a crush as well. However, our interior guidance systems ran in two different directions. Kate had been shot down by JT more than once, while I kept my attraction to myself.

JT said, “Before all that, when I told you I’d gotten a transfer and that’s why I wouldn’t be coming in any more, well, it was actually because of the Krasski thing. I was transferred, but I didn’t stop coming in because of that. I just couldn’t face seeing disdain on your faces.”

I tugged JT’s hand into my lap and wrapped my other hand around her knuckles. “You have to know I wouldn’t have thought any less of you. Neither would Kate or Eddy. Or Coop.”

“I do know that now. I think I did then too, on some level. But the emotions I was working with at the time freaked me out too damn much to really believe it.”

I could relate. When the Protector was in control, I just reacted. It wasn’t until I’d calmed down that I could think clearly, and even then it was sometimes a challenge to see things as they really were and not colored by the events that had rattled me to the core in the first place.

The bright sound of Maria’s giggle floated to us on the lazy breeze. She and Michelle were now both on the ground with Dawg and Bogey, who, by their wiggling body language, were loving every moment of attention they were getting.

I could totally understand JT’s reluctance to revisit her hell, especially as time went by. That I got, loud and clear. But then there was the little issue of Maria, sweet Maria, who she’d been in contact with at least once every few weeks. For the entire span of time we’d been together. That really stung. Even after hearing JT’s side of things, that part still pissed me off. However, I was just going to have to buck up and deal with it.

It was time. I said, “Tell me Maria’s story.”

“Yes.” JT squeezed my fingers and studied her lap with intense interest. “Maria.”

Trying to keep my voice even, I said, “It’s one thing to not tell me about the Krasski mess, horrible as it may have been. But it’s entirely another to … to keep up the charade, to hide the facts of what you were doing to help that little girl. How could you think I wouldn’t understand that?”

JT’s head hung even lower. It might have been funny if it weren’t so sad.

I untangled my hand from hers, shifted to face her on the bench, gritting my teeth as pain shot through my bruised ribs. “Hey.” I reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear again. “Babe, look at me.” I caught JT’s chin and tugged. Reluctantly she met my eyes.

Unshed tears glittered in those brown depths. She drew in a breath. “I have no excuse. I’m so sorry, Shay.”

I pulled her into a fierce hug, trying to be careful of my side. She held onto me and buried her face in the crook of my neck, thankfully on the non-airbag-burned side.

“You,” I whispered into her ear, “have nothing to be ashamed of. You’re amazing. So you lost your freaking temper? That bastard deserved it. Maria, well, we’ll work on that. Sometime soon I want to hear the entire story about how you’ve helped those kids.”

She nodded against my shoulder.

My hand tangled in her hair and tugged until her face came up, scant inches from mine. “But if you ever hide something like this from me again, so help me, JT Bordeaux, I’ll fillet you myself and feed you to one of Taffy’s goats.”

A weak smile fluttered across JT’s face. I let go of her hair and gingerly met her lips in a reaffirming kiss that spoke not of passion but of forgiveness and hope.

After about two hours, we bid Michelle and a very excited Maria goodbye and headed for the Rabbit Hole. JT reassured the little girl that her uncle was okay, but he couldn’t take her home. JT told her that she’d get a hold of another family member as soon as she could to come and whisk her back to Mexico, and if she had to, she’d bring the little girl there herself. Now there was the JT I knew and loved.

On the way to the Hole, Tyrell called. After informing him that the object of our concern was sitting next to me, I handed the phone over to JT. She mostly listened to whatever he was saying to her, with a few “uh huhs” thrown in. She signed off with a promise that we’d get together with Tyrell and his wife sometime soon.

I glanced sideways at JT, waiting for her to fill me in. As I waited for her to order her thoughts, I took a detour from our regularly scheduled route back to the café and pulled to the curb in front of the Leaning Tower of Pizza. It was almost feeding time, and a couple of pizzas with the works sounded excellent. In addition, it would be a nice surprise for Eddy and the rest of the crew.

JT smiled when she realized where we were. “I like your thinking. So. Ty told me he’d found out a bit more about Hector. He’s the oldest living male in Maria’s family, and I guess it’s been a pretty rough road for all of them. Couple of brothers were killed in drug-related dealings. Her dad died some time ago. Maria’s the baby of the family.” She put her hand over her mouth for a moment and gazed through the windshield, eyes locked on something in the distance.

“When Hector found out what had happened to Maria, he vowed to seek revenge.” She choked out a bitter laugh. “That’s exactly how I felt, Shay.”

“I know.” I sucked my bottom lip in and put my hand on the back of her neck, gently stroking the silky strands of hair that flowed over her collar and down her back. Hector had done what he felt he needed to do. I realized that when Coop and I showed up, Hector must have felt terrified, completely trapped with no way out, much like a wild animal cornered, with no escape route. If it had been me in his situation, I can’t say I would have done things much differently.

Hector came after Coop and me because he was backed into a corner and didn’t know what else to do. He didn’t really mean either one of us harm. I knew in my heart that if Coop had all the same facts I did, he’d feel exactly the same way. “JT,” I said, and swallowed carefully, “is there any way we can get Hector home?”

JT shot me a surprised glance. “What do you mean?”

“I …” What
did
I mean, exactly? I frowned. “What happened to Maria can’t be changed. We both know that. But Krasski’s now in a place where he can’t hurt anyone ever again. Hector did that. For everyone. I know killing another human being isn’t right. Oh hell, JT, maybe sometimes it is. Krasski wasn’t anything I’d call human, and he deserved to be broiling in hell long before now. I just hate to see Hector locked up for the rest of his life for eradicating a menace.” I shrugged, feeling discouraged and helpless. Both emotions pissed me off.

JT looked at me thoughtfully without speaking.

“What?” I finally asked. “You of all people have to under—”

She held her hands up. “Hey, easy. I do get it.” Her dark, piercing eyes were indeed full of compassion, and under that, a layer of rebellion. “No promises, but let me see what I can do.”

I left JT mumbling to herself and walked into the Leaning Tower of Pizza where the tang of pizza and the rich smell of pasta and alfredo sauce made my stomach rumble. I placed an order for a large Leaning Tower and an Italian Stallion to go, and on second thought, added a Holy Trinity of Cheese for Coop, in honor of his vegetable munching ways.